Insect Herbivore-Host Dynamics
Insect Herbivore-Host Dynamics
Literature on the population dynamics of insect herbivores tends to favour a top-down regulation of abundance, owing much to the action of natural enemies. Originally published in 2005, this volume challenges this paradigm and argues that tree-dwelling species of aphids, through competition for resources, regulate their own abundance. The biology of tree-dwelling aphids is examined, particularly their adaptation to the seasonal development of their host plants. When host-plant quality is favourable, aphids, by telescoping generations, can achieve prodigious rates of increase which their natural enemies are unable to match. Using analyses of long-term population censuses and results of experiments, this book introduces students and research workers to insect herbivore-host dynamics using the interaction between aphids and trees as a model.
- Comprehensive and concise
- Written by leader in the field
- A considerable number of graphs to illustrate correlations easily
Reviews & endorsements
Review of the hardback: '… short, uncluttered and digestible …' TRENDS in Ecology & Evolution
Review of the hardback: 'I am always pleased and excited when a book by Tony Dixon arrives on my desk. This latest offering is no exception. It is well up to his usual standard and a worthy companion to his two recent books on related subjects … fluid writing, lucid arguments and well chosen examples … an excellent book that covers most of ecological theory based on examples not only just from tree aphids, but mainly from the interaction of one species of aphid, the sycamore aphid Drepanosiphum platanoidis and its natural enemies and host plant the sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus. This is a major tour de force … a must-buy item for any ecologist … destined to be a classic.' Journal of Insect Conservation
Review of the hardback: '… well written and clearly structured … it will be of value to many aphid researchers and herbivore ecologists.' Entomologia Generalis
Review of the hardback: '… it gives the reader not only the insight to the partial problem of the selected aphid species and their hosts but it serves also as a model for studying other ecological tasks.' Thaiszia: Journal of Botany
Product details
December 2011Paperback
9781107402638
208 pages
229 × 152 × 12 mm
0.31kg
Available
Table of Contents
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Tree dwelling aphids
- 3. Trees as a habitat for aphids: relation to host plant
- 4. Trees as a habitat for aphids: relation to natural enemies
- 5. Carrying capacity of trees
- 6. Aphid abundance
- 7. Population dynamics
- 8. Risky dispersal
- 9. Seasonal sex allocation
- 10. Aphids and tree fitness
- 11. Rarity, conservation and global warming
- Epilogue.
